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11/21/2019 – Ephemeris – There may be a chance to see a meteor storm late tonight
Ephemeris for Thursday, November 21st. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 22 minutes, setting at 5:09, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:48. The Moon, 2 days past last quarter, will rise at 2:39 tomorrow morning.
Tonight we might be in for a treat it it is clear: a meteor storm. It comes from a very minor meteoroid stream called the Alpha Monocerotids. That means the meteors will appear to come from the constellation of Monoceros the unicorn, just east of Orion. Don’t worry about that. At the predicted peak time 11:50 p.m. (04:50 UTC November 22) the meteors will appear to come from the east, but appear all over the sky. Predictions of this sort are tricky since members of the meteor stream can only be tracked as they burn up in Earth’s atmosphere. This shower had meteor storms in 1925, 1935, 1985, and 1995. In 1985 there was an outburst at a rate of 700 meteors an hour. The storm is expected to last less than an hour.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Alpha Monocerotis radiant at 11:30 p.m. November 21, 2019. Note the word alpha is replaced by the Greek letter α. The other shower radiant the seen, the November Orionids is another minor shower which will reach peak on the 28th with an estimated 3 meteors an hour. The normal rate for the α-Monocerotids is 5 an hour. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.
Online sources: Bad Astronomer Phil Plait – https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/will-the-unicorn-give-us-a-meteor-storm-on-november-22; here’s another source: https://www.meteornews.net/2019/11/06/likely-alpha-monocerotids-amo246-outburst-on-the-morning-of-november-22-2019/.
11/15/2019 – Ephemeris – The Leonids in the moonlight
Ephemeris for Friday, November 15th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 35 minutes, setting at 5:14, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:40. The Moon, 3 days past full, will rise at 7:45 this evening.
We are coming into a period where the Leonid meteor shower will be at its peak, as the Earth passes through the debris left by Comet Tempel-Tuttle on past trips through the inner solar system. We are having a bright Moon now which will diminish their numbers. The Leonids are only visible after midnight, and that’s when the Moon is highest in the sky. The meteors will appear to come from the top of a backward question mark that is the head of the constellation Leo the lion. They will be seen all over the sky, but can be traced back to that point. The Leonids are most numerous about every 33 years, which is about 13 years from now. Otherwise we get about 15 meteors an hour at peak when the Moon isn’t out.
The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Addendum
Leo rising at around 2 a.m. on the morning of November 18. Note the radiant in the sickle asterism of Leo. Created using Looking Up, my own program.
New Meteor News!
I’ll have more next week, but we may be able to witness a meteor storm on the evening of the 21st and morning of the 22nd. It is the Alpha Monocerotids. They will seem to come from the constellation of Monoceros the unicorn. That constellation lies in the blank spot in the triangle between Orion, Canis Major and Canis Minor. The radiant will rise at 10:30 p.m.
Check this out: https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/will-the-unicorn-give-us-a-meteor-storm-on-november-22
Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog 